Harold and his Purple Crayon

 Today marked not only our first visit to the American Dance Festival, but also our first trip to the Durham Performing Arts Center.  We headed up early and had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom and then attended the matinee show of Harold and the Purple Crayon by the Hubbard Street Dance group from Chicago. 

The venue was beautiful, and Lily couldn't get over all the red carpet and curtains.  We had second row seats, so it was really great to be able to see their facial expressions while they danced.  It really looked like they were into the story.  Lily was a big fan of Harold, and she excitedly whispered to me which part was coming next.  Their favorite part was when the "balloon" came down from the ceiling and "Harold" got into the basket and swung back and forth.

Afterwards there were activities sponsored by Durham Dances in the lobby.  It was supposed to be outside, but since it was crazy hot, they were moved indoors.  We met some of the dancers from the performance.  The girls got their faces painted and spent time creating items from the Scrap Exchange.  We never even made it up the second floor with the band. 

Madeleine shows us her robot while Lily made a toolbox.